"I don't think so," said Eldridge, who supports Patrick's action, when asked if the policy could be reversed.

"Could a bill be filed? It's possible," added the Acton Democrat. "But I just think what the governor is doing is acting within his authority to give these kids a chance who have spent all their lives in the U.S., consider themselves American, and just want the chance to get a better education."

In a letter sent to the Board of Higher Education on Monday, Patrick said immigrants who obtain a work permit through a new federal program instituted by President Barack Obama would be eligible to pay the lower rates. Those rates cut in half the annual tuition to attend the University of Massachusetts.

There was an immediate outcry from several Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who argued that allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition could take away admissions slots from students who are in the country legally.

House Republican leader Bradley Jones said the benefit should be taken away as soon as possible. While Jones did not specify how the Legislature could prevent the administration from implementing the tuition policy, a spokesman for the minority leader said he was "exploring all possibilities.

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The heads of several area colleges have said it is unlikely illegal immigrants would have an impact on admissions. State Treasurer Steve Grossman expressed a similar opinion this week while also suggesting that training these immigrant students would benefit the state's economy.

"We have over 119,000 jobs that are posted that we can't fill," Grossman said. "I mean we need every one of those young people getting a great education, going to a public college or university, whether it's a community college or four-year university or the UMass system and then taking their place in this workforce. Eighty percent of the people who come out of public colleges or universities stay right here."

Some lawmakers are upset the new program was implemented without legislative approval.

Obama, in June, launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, granting immigrants 30 and younger two-year reprieves from deportation if they arrived before age 16, had a clean record and met other requirements. The president left it up to individual states to decide whether immigrants should get benefits such as resident tuition.

Granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants has generated little legislative support in recent years, with the House soundly rejecting it in a 97-57 vote in 2006. Current House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who opposed the bill at the time, has yet to weigh in on the new tuition policy.

Eldridge believes the Legislature has softened on the issue over the past six years.

"Whether they defeated a Republican or took a seat that was held by a Democrat, I think what you are seeing is the Legislature becoming a bit more progressive," he said.

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